In the birthplace of the latest technology, Stanford University, one of the older forms of communication was celebrated at the recent opening of Bing Concert Hall, an 842-seat music theater funded in large part by university trustee Peter Bing and his wife, Helen, and 17 other couples.

The hall's vineyard style (set in the round, but not rotating) was something "I have never done before," said architect Richard Olcott of Ennead Architects, which also designed the Cantor Center for Visual Arts on campus, among other buildings. But the acoustician, Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics, was right at home. His other projects include Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the New World Symphony SoundSpace in Miami, where Michael Tilson Thomas is artistic director.

That's one reason the San Francisco Symphony, led by Thomas, did not do a test run before opening night, said Bing Hall Managing Director Wiley Hausam, noting, "MTT is completely confident they can walk on the stage and play away."

Every gala has a few bells and whistles - a sumptuous French bistro-style dinner by McCalls was ordered up by dinner chairwomen Bren Leisure and Betsy Matteson. The restrooms also had panache of a sort - red and green lights to show empty or occupied stalls - ordered up by Peter Bing, copied from a parking garage in Century City.

All this and the Bings aren't even that musical. "I can't even whistle - I put my lips together and I can't do it," said Helen Bing.

But they had vision.

"Stanford has been a world-class university without a world-class performance venue," said John Goldman, a member of the hall's steering committee. "It elevates the arts, especially music, to a new level."